𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

6

ever since he was a little boy, edward lavigne had had the ability to get absolutely anything and everything he wanted. with just a click of his fingers or a nod of his head, it would appear magically in his hands, no problem.

coming into the world a screaming, crying, placenta-covered mess just days before halloween in 1938, edward weighed a whopping ten pounds when he was born. his head alone almost tore his poor mother camille in half. his parents were both twenty three at the time of his birth — newlyweds, who had emigrated to new york from marseille together when they were just mere teenagers. edward had a brother, too: timothy, who was two years older than him. their grandfather maurice had first gained the lavigne family's infamous reputation in france — his son, henry, had been the one with enough guts to bring the business over to america. he conducted several systems of racketeering, gambling, fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, recreational drug exports, prostitution, and even murder to make his money.

edward was a happy child, despite the obvious obstacles. his father was never around much, as he always had the business to tend to and money to worry about, but he did try his best to be there for his boys. for several years, henry managed to dodge the war draft — his father kept him from doing his civil service, even if he was four thousand miles away. in the latter months of 1939, maurice sent his son a very long and angry letter from france: 'tu es peut-être un adulte, mais je ne te permettrai pas de mourir pour ce pays maudit. tu as deux enfants maintenant, henry! tu devras rester avec ta femme et prendre soin de ta famille. c'est une commande!' you may be a grown man, but i will not allow you to die for that god-forsaken country. you have two children now, henry! you shall stay with your wife and take care of your family. that is an order!

on the other hand, camille lavigne was a quiet woman with not much to say to anyone. she did what her husband told her to; she cleaned, she cooked, she did the laundry, even if they did have money for nannies. it kept her busy while the boys were at school. she quite liked to run around the house — she almost took pride in it. everything had its own place and position in the home, and lord help anyone who made it untidy and disorganised. her sons were often scolded for leaving laundry on the floor and wet towels in their bedrooms.

edward and timothy both attended public school near their apartment building in park slope, brooklyn, as their parents didn't have a lot of money when they first came to new york in the summer of 1935. it was not a problem for eddie and tim, after all, neither of them had troubles with 'fitting in' and being accepted, so to speak, even if tim was a bit nerdy. he had glasses that were too big for his nose and limbs that were so gangly they made his body look disproportionate. timothy was complacent and kept his head down, while edward had no problem challenging the authority of his teachers. he often caught detentions and ruler slaps on the knuckles for talking back and 'being a smart-ass,' as his brother had called it.

edward played a lot of sports, but his brother didn't like them so much; he was more of an academic, with his nose in a history book or a pen in hand as he wrote poetry. nevertheless, young eddie never let their differences get him down (even though he did wish tim would play just a little bit of tag with him every once in a while). from a very early age, edward was a star athlete — he had talents in football, baseball, boxing, wrestling, and swimming. in high school, he even made it to quarterback.

although he was well-liked among his peers, he didn't have many friends — until he met sal.

salvatore marino was a greaser in every sense of the word. he lived with his grandmother, who hardly spoke a word of english, in a tiny, damp apartment in downtown brooklyn. his father was in prison for two counts of first degree murder, his mother a pills and amphetamines addict — she had unfortunately died while giving birth to him.